Alcatraz Island, 1896
On August 11, 1934, a group of federal prisoners deemed the “most dangerous” were transferred to Alcatraz Island, a 22-acre rocky outpost located 1.5 miles off the coast in San Francisco Bay. These inmates were the first civilian prisoners to occupy the newly established high-security penitentiary, joining several dozen military prisoners who remained from Alcatraz’s previous era as a U.S. military prison.
Alcatraz was originally an uninhabited sanctuary for seabirds when it was first charted by Spanish Lieutenant Juan Manuel de Ayala in 1775, who named it Isla de los Alcatraces, or “Island of the Pelicans.” The island was fortified by the Spanish and later sold to the United States in 1849. By 1854, Alcatraz had become the site of California’s first lighthouse. A U.S. Army garrison was stationed there in 1859, and by 1868, the island had begun serving as a military prison. Its inmates included defiant U.S. soldiers, rebellious Indian scouts, American soldiers who had deserted to join Filipino forces during the Philippine-American War, and Chinese civilians who resisted the U.S. military during the Boxer Rebellion. In 1907, Alcatraz was officially designated as the Pacific Branch of the United States Military Prison.
In 1934, the island was transformed into a maximum-security federal penitentiary intended to incarcerate the most dangerous inmates in the U.S. prison system, particularly those known for attempting to escape. The first group of civilian prisoners arrived on August 11, 1934, followed by additional shipments later that month, including notorious mobster Al Capone. In September, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, another prominent figure in organized crime, was also transferred to Alcatraz.
Among the notable prisoners held at Alcatraz during the 1940s was Richard Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz.” A convicted murderer, Stroud had gained fame for writing a significant study on birds while in solitary confinement at Leavenworth Prison in Kansas. Deemed highly dangerous after killing a guard at Leavenworth in 1916, Stroud was transferred to Alcatraz in 1942, though he was not permitted to continue his avian research there.
Despite numerous attempts, no prisoner was ever confirmed to have successfully escaped “The Rock.” Although several escapees were believed to have drowned in the perilous waters of San Francisco Bay, their bodies were never recovered. The 1962 escape of three men—Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin—inspired the 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz. In 1945, another inmate, John Giles, managed to hitch a ride to the shore disguised in a stolen army uniform, but he was apprehended by a suspicious officer and sent back to Alcatraz. The only person known to have reached the mainland by swimming was John Paul Scott, who made it to shore near the Golden Gate Bridge but was found exhausted, hypothermic, and in shock.
In 1963, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy ordered the closure of Alcatraz, citing the exorbitant costs associated with its upkeep. During its 29 years of operation, the prison housed over 1,500 inmates. In March 1964, a group of Sioux Indians briefly occupied the island, invoking an 1868 treaty that allowed them to claim any “unoccupied government land.” A more prolonged occupation began in November 1969 when nearly 100 Native American students and activists took over the island, remaining until federal marshals removed them in June 1971.
In 1972, Alcatraz was reopened to the public as part of the newly established Golden Gate National Recreation Area, managed by the National Park Service. Today, Alcatraz Island and its historic prison attract more than one million visitors each year.
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